A push from the owners of Jersey City’s Liberty National Golf Club to lease 22 acres of Liberty State Park has become a battle between billionaires and nature lovers.
Park advocates and environmentalists are fighting the plan, saying the area should remain a park space open to the public.
What most people don’t know is that there are many unique parts of the park such as the Cavern Point nature area. There is a wide sandy beach where foxes and egrets roam in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty and the New York skyline.
Golf club owners want a piece of public park, but for students on Christ McAuliffe School’s STEAM program, losing part of the park would be devastating.
The natural area of the park is part of their laboratory. Last year, the team’s project won first place in the Lexus Eco Challenge. The group will go to eighth grade this year and hope to develop water pollution sensors.
“That beach is really one of the few places in Jersey City that we can take students close to,” says Joel Naatus, consultant to the STEAM team. “And they can get their feet dirty.” Liberty National organized a golf course for local youth as part of its offer to the state in exchange for the 22 acres. These guys say they want to stay true to science.
Earlier this year, the state Senate passed the Liberty State Park Protection Act which, according to supporters, would help prevent the park from being privatized. The bill never got to the vote in the Assembly.
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